Does anyone have an issue with the left VUK randomly taking a few tries to get the ball all the way up and out to the wireform? I have adjusted the power settings so when it works it does not rebound back down into the VUK. It will rattle around the bottom half when it doesn't work. The majority of the time (75%?) it's a clean shot to the wireform. Not sure what I need to adjust.

Adjust the wire form, probably not aligned right. Is your game leveled properly?

Hi I just wanted to share my two latest mods, I Individually painted barrels.
Thoughts?

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I really dig the barrel beer holder! Also, do the mini barrels mount over (or attach onto) the existing playfiled spotlights? If so, that’s awesome!

Did that....

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Yeah it's level, I could try aggressively bending the wireform but I don't want to go there yet.

Also it seems that the smaug lock diverter doesn't always work for me. There is no error report that I can see... but it seems off. It is often locking the ball and not diverting it off the ramp, just feeding it to the flippers. Maybe there are some situations the game does this on purpose? But even if that's the case, it appears to be happening too often when nothing else appears to be going on.

Use of the diverter is limited, I think it only used in certain modes.

To be clear, I am not talking about the u turn, I am talking about the diverter that sends it to the smaug magnet.

If the green lock is lit it should divert 100% of the time.

Ugh.

Nice!

Where did you get the barrel cup holder? Did you start with a base and paint that too? I don't even have a Hobbit and I want that.

I designed and made it myself for $65 a beer barrel could be made, individually painted and delivered to your door
PM for details if interested
cheers
/mima

My Smaug has stopped moving his mouth. Is there a reply to this thread detailing how to trouble shoot it? Thanks!

Review page 56 of this thread.

Oh, I didn't read your question thoroughly. Yes they mount on the original spotlights of the playfield. To keep them positioned as they came from the factory you would need to buy a couple of 8-32 hex standof extensions to elevate the barrel lights above the wire frame ramps. .

cheers
/mima

I recently picked up a Hobbit LE after really only ever playing it once about a year ago. It was on code 1.21 when I picked it up and is in immaculate HUO condition (I am second owner). I have to say this is one of the most amazing pinball machines I have ever had the pleasure to own and play. Everything about it screams "high quality". From the almost unbelievable attention to detail both above and below the playfield, the technology in place here that's leaps and bounds above most modern competitors, the ease of use and intuitiveness of the menu systems, the quality of the art and sound, the immersive play, its just incredible all around. I have since updated to 2.01 code and love the improvements to gameplay. I am just having a total blast with this machine and cant believe I was so skeptical on it based on the apparent negative feedback since it came out!! I am not a world class pinball player so I absolutely love that it is an "easier" game - as does my family. I had GOT Premium for awhile, love that theme but man that game is BRUTAL! my wife grew tired of it quickly as its no fun to just get repeatedly crushed by a difficult game for her, frankly I was in the same boat. With Hobbit its so much easier to take it at your own pace, enjoy the presentation, be strategic about shots, etc.

After several games I noticed that the Smaug jaw wasn't really doing anything and thanks to some info much earlier in this thread I was able to determine that the settings for the jaw min/max position were WAY OFF from the values written on the bottom of the motor - now Smaug is in his full articulated speech glory! I cannot speak any more highly of this game!!!

Holy hell though....was there ever a heavier pinball manufactured in history aside from Hercules?? my god this thing was a nightmare to move up stairs. I had to remove the head (which was easy by the way) to physically maneuver it and was disappointed that the head weighs literally nothing compared to the cabinet. This game may never leave my home...but that's fine with me, I think it very well may be the best pinball machine I have ever owned.

Anyways, just wanted to share some thoughts and say I am thrilled to join the Hobbit Owners Thread as an owner!!

Ok I fixed this. Issue was the diverter just barely didn't leave enough room for ball to get by at a slow speed. There were a couple of ways that would have fixed this, but the easiest for me was to add two washers to the diverter mount which moved it a very slight amount to the left, which opened up the lane enough.

I love my hobbit also but I find it much harder than you do. I also thought I read somewhere that you should be carful not to over drive the jaws,I adjusted my jaws farther than it came to me also but check into it

Photo of alternative site for Hobbit ring display (sorry for duplicate photo).

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I've moved a hercules and its not as heavy as the Hobbit!

Just an update, our Hobbit plug and play barrel kits are back in stock! Hand painted with theme correct stained rope banding and waterjet cut painted arrows for game authenticity. Barrels are lined with translucent ring liners for a unique glow using any color LED (LED bulb not included). Check them out at The Mod Couple pinside marketplace store or PM me for interest! Thanks for looking!

The Mod Couple

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My goodness it's been forever since I last logged in here heh heh... I even forgot my user name >___<

So I'm moving! Just a mile(ish) down the road but it's a much better spot
The last thing I want to move is my machine. Any recommendations? No stairs. 3 doors. No fancy tables like I see other folks have.

3 or 4 huge strong friends.

LTG : )

No worries for you, that limited run is sold out.
Cheers

That looks good too. How's it held on? I positioned mine above the precious outlane on top of the ring image on play field. Your spot is definitely more predominantly shown though. Nice.

Use a 3mm diameter wood dowel, 3 & 3/8" in length. If desired, stain brown to match color of book cover. Affix three spaced 5mm glue dots to dowel. Mount/stick dowel to backside of book cover behind glass plate on the left, with approximately 3/8" of dowel protruding above book cover. That leaves plenty of space between top of dowel & PF glass. If you try to mount it on the right side of the book cover, there's not enough space. My ring size is 6. With game play, ring is stable & does not come off dowel.

Note: I use glue dots to mount the majority of my pinball mods. It's not as messy as crazy glue (or other types of adhesives) & it doesn't have to be permanent.

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Superbowl party games played audits: America's Most Haunted 30, LOTR 20, and Hobbit just under 100. Hobbit was the clear winner. These are non-pinheads, mostly people from my Church and their kids. Don't believe the negativity, in the real world The Hobbit dominates.

Not a fan of the Hobbit sticker (?Erebor Graphic) between the upper back box speakers. Replaced it with a 3" square Gollum sticker (photos 2 & 3). It's not too flashy & it correlates well with the front of the cabinet. Original sticker easy to remove after gentle heating with hair dryer. Use alcohol or lighter fluid to clean/remove any adhesive residue.

If interested, go to zazzle.com. Type "hobbit stickers" in search. There are 305 choices (three examples in photo 1). You can order matte or gloss & customize the background color. They have multiple shapes & sizes. The central space between the speakers is 8 X 3 inches, so the 3" square or the 4.5 X 2.7" rectangle is a perfect fit. Rectangles are a sheet of four; squares are a sheet of 6. You can also search for "hobbit magnets". There are 327 choices. Unfortunately, they only offer squares & circles. The squares are too small. They do offer a 3" diameter circle size.

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Just popping in to say that I would love to kick whoever designed the beast mech cover/spring/clip system squarely in the NUTS!!!

I have to have my wife or son help when I need to remove it or put it back on

That feeling when you hear a 'ping' and then something hit the back wall...

Just put a magnet on top of the flap to hold the spring on when you remove the hairpin clip. I've pulled my beasts out plenty of times at this point and this trick has definitely helped.

If you don't have a magnet, rotate the end of the hairpin clip to the outside of the flap where it can easily be grabbed with needle nose pliers. With one hand, hold the flap and the spring. Remove the clip with the other. Then grab the spring.

Removing them is no issue...it’s getting them back on that’s the bitch! I ended up having to remove both habitrails to get enough access for my hands.

I am getting a red messsage when I turn on the machine. When I go into the menus, it is saing "bad switch on Dragon (Smaug) Limit - Right" then when I go into another screen, it says Check Matrixed Switch #30 Dragon (Smaug) Limit - right (stuck closed).

When the dragon head turns back to the right, it is like the head is skipping, but finally makes it to the end after a bunch of skips.

What should I do? I'm a new user and am not incredibly mechanically inclined and don't want to break something.

Thanks - RW

Switch #30 isn't working. Loose wires, connector, or failed.

LTG : )

Ok, and my next step would be what?

Fix it. At least look it over and see if anything obvious is wrong.

If it's beyond your skill level, find a local collector to give you some hands on help and watch and learn.

LTG : )

Just for reference, for everyone else...I found that the wire at the back of the Smaug head was looped in between the space between the head and the ramp. I pushed the wire down, and now everything seems to be ok. Thanks, RW

Many times a quick visual inspection reveals the problem. Congrats on fixing yours.

trying to update to 2.0. download the file (US version) open unetbootin , click on the disk image and the {...} button, find my download file , ect , have done a full format prior also. machine is off, insert usb in to the left back of coin box area and turn machine on and nothing what am i missing??

Are you doing the Full Install ? Or Delta ?

Instructions for both are on the JJP website.

If you are doing a Full Install, the way you posted what you did, if nothing happens, nothing is on the USB stick. Or USB cable isn't working.

LTG : )

thanks LTG, maybe my stick is nfg i have tried many times but here is a screen shot of what is on the stick

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mine came with 1.9 and i have never updated and see 2.0 and 2.01 , i assume i need to do a full first for 2.0 then a delta for 2.01

All if the files have to be extracted into a folder named hobbit_update, then the game will see them.

And that folder has to be on the root or main root directory of the flash drive.

Unless the stick is not compatible.
Im using kingston usb flash drives and the game seems to like them fine regardless of their capacity.
I like the little metal ones.

I did however have a problem with a loose USB cable on my WOZ early on.
I just replaced it with a better one for $6.

reno , thanks, i am using the same kingston stick also . i added a hobbit_update folder as suggested but when i used unebutin to transfer the file it doesnt allow me to pick it as a destination folder .

The full install is different than the delta install. Which one are you doing? I presume full since you mention unebutin. Follow the JJ instructions for full install. The Hobbit_Update folder isn’t used in a full update.

I have some issues with the ball getting stuck at the drop target slots. Is there an adjustment that allows the yellow targets to move closer to the edge of the slot to prevent the ball from getting caught in the drop target slot (between the retracted drop targets and the edge of the playfield cutout)? Would I have to bend the target mounts or something?

Thanks!